About GB Basketball

GB Men out to set the tone against Austria

27 November 2018 21:43

By Sarah Robertson

Mansoor Ahmed/Ahmedphotos.

Great Britain men's coach Alberto Lorenzo believes that if his side are to be successful in their EuroBasket 2021 pre-qualifier against Austria at the National Basketball Performance Centre in Belle Vue, Manchester on Thursday, they need to be the aggressors from the start.

The GB men begin the road to EuroBasket 2021 this week having agonisingly missed out on the second round of qualifying for the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019.

Instead, the GB men will hope to reach the EuroBasket 2021 qualifying round proper next summer with Austria and Cyprus standing in their way in Group D.

Austria and Cyprus have already met on 13 September with the Austrians coming away with a thrilling 72-69 overtime win.

Austria failed to win any of their six World Cup qualifying encounters but despite their record, gave a strong account of themselves alongside established international sides Germany and Serbia along with EuroBasket regulars Georgia.

The Austrians nearly stunned the 2017 EuroBasket and 2016 Rio Olympic, silver medallists Serbia back in February, but a three-pointer from Aleksa Avramovic with 24 seconds left broke Austrian hearts.

Serbia escaped Austrian soil with a narrow 82-81 win on that night and Coach Lorenzo knows that no game in international basketball is easy, but the key to Austria's visit on Thursday will be to set their own tempo and to be aggressive from the opening tip.

"These games are not going to be easy, they are going to be tough games but with our first game against Austria being at home I think we have a really good chance of getting a win," Lorenzo said. "We have seen a lot of Austria games and what is critical is that they are very experienced guys, they are not as young as us, and I feel that we are more physical too.

"So we need to draw on that physical strength at the start of the game because if we let them play to their own pace and find the right shooters, it will be tough so we need to be aggressive from the start."

With the pre-qualifiers serving as a gateway to the qualifiers proper next summer, Lorenzo knows that Thursday's game against Austria could be a turning point for the future of British basketball.

"I don't want to be dramatic but for the future of GB Basketball, I think this is a big moment," Lorenzo said. "It's our goal to move to the next round. It's really important for us and for the future.

"I feel that on the court, we are able to beat anyone. We have the right guys that all are committed to GB basketball. I am expecting a tough game from the Austrian players so we must be very physical with them."

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You can watch Great Britain vs Austria LIVE on FIBA's YouTube channel Thursday night, tip-off at 7pm.